Folk-Songs of America: The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection, 1922-1932

Contents Foreword Introduction Sound Files (includes links to liner notes) Works Cited Gordon Manuscript Collections Additional Materials: Original Liner Notes in PDF (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Part 1 (5MB) Part 2 (7MB) Gordon Collection Photographs The Gordon Collections Finding Aid for Archive of Folk Culture Materials

Gordon Manuscript Collections

Acquired and/or indexed by Robert Winslow Gordon in the Archive of Folk Song

Arthur Mss. See Odum Mss.

Boyd Mss. Typescript of ca. 125 songs sent in by J. P. Boyd, Alliance, North Carolina, 1926-27. Indexed. Typescript in Archive.

Davids Mss. Manuscript of thirty-three songs, written by R. M. Davids, ca. 1924. Sent in by Joanna Colcord, December 1929. Indexed. Original and two typescript copies in archive.

Frothingham Mss. 137 letters containing queries and texts sent in to Robert Frothingham, editor of "Old Songs That Men Have Sung" column in Adventure Magazine, 1922-23. Indexed. Original letters and two typescript copies of texts in archive.

Galt Mss. Ca. 115 songs, obtained from Nellie Galt, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1928, and corresponding in part with several cylinder recordings in the Archive. Mostly Indexed. Some of these recordings presumably in archive, but no transcriptions.

Gordon Mss. 3858 letters containing texts and requests sent in to Robert Winslow Gordon, editor of "Old Songs That Men Have Sung" column in Adventure Magazine, 1923-27, plus a few scattered texts dating from 1911 to 1932. Indexed. Original letters and two typescript copies of texts (one bound) in archive.

Gordon Collection: California. Ca. 400 songs and groups of text acquired by Robert Winslow Gordon while he lived in California, mostly dated 1922-23. The first part corresponds with recordings numbered 1 through 142. Indexed. Recordings and original manuscripts in archive. Scattered typescripts numbered 1 through 130 are housed in the Randall V. Mills Memorial Archive of Northwest Folklore, University of Oregon.

Gordon Collection: GA. Ca. 555 songs acquired by Robert Winslow Gordon while he resided in Darien, Georgia, mainly during the years 1926-28. The first half corresponds with recordings numbered A203 to A563. Indexed. Recordings but no manuscript in archive.

Gordon Collection: N. C. 374 texts acquired by Robert Winslow Gordon during a field trip in North Carolina, October-December 1925. Texts 1-298 correspond with recordings A1-A202. Indexed. Recordings, two typescripts of 1-298, and one typescript of whole in archive.

Hanford Mss. Eight texts sent in by J. H. Hanford, Cleveland, Ohio, obtained from Esther Stover, Cleveland, January 12, 1930, who had learned them from her father in Iowa City, Iowa. Indexed. Original typescript and two typescript copies in archive.

Henry Mss. Sixty-one typewritten texts of Southern Appalachian ballads and songs sent in by Mellinger Edward Henry, Ridgefield, New Jersey, 1928-29. Most texts and headnotes were later published in Journal of American Folklore and Henry's Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands (New York, J. J. Augustin, 1938). Indexed. Original and two typescript copies in archive.

Johnson Mss. Fifteen handwritten texts sent in by Guy B. Johnson, University of North Carolina, ca. 1929, written down by Walter Jordan, New York City, as learned in the south twenty years before. Not Indexed. Original and two typescript copies in archive.

McAdams Thesis. Ca. 140 Negro songs, contained in Nettie F. McAdams' The Folk-songs of the American Negro: A Collection of Unprinted Texts Preceded by a General Survey of the Traits of the Negro Song (University of California Master's Thesis, 1923). Indexed. Bound photocopy in archive.

McGinnis Mss. Ca. 130 sea chanties and songs sent in by Joseph F. McGinnis, Brooklyn, New York, 1928-29, including music. Indexed. Original manuscript returned 1929. Copy at University of Oregon.

McIlhenny Mss. Louisiana Negro Spirituals, collection of ca. 325 pages and 125 texts and tunes compiled by E. A. McIlhenny, Avery Island, Louisiana. See McIlhenny's Befo' de War Spirituals (Boston, Christopher Publishing House, 1933). Indexed. Microfilm copy in music division.

Newcomb Mss. 403 page photostat manuscript by Mary Newcomb, Louisville, Kentucky, entitled Songs My Mother Sang, containing 210 texts with 101 tunes, from New Hope, Kentucky, sent in 1929-30. Miss Newcomb was attempting to find a publisher for this manuscript. Indexed. Not in archive. Copy at university of Oregon.

Newcomb Mss. (additional): 102 texts from Kentucky sent in by Mary Newcomb, 1930-31. Indexed. One typescript copy in archive.

Neal-Brown Co. Songs: Brown County Songs and Ballads, collected and annotated by Mabel Evangeline Neal (Indiana University Master's Thesis, 1926), 100 songs, 183 pages. Indexed. Bound photostat copy in archive.

Odum-Arthur Mss. Eighty-three typewritten texts sent in by Howard W. Odum, University of North Carolina, July 10, 1929, obtained from J. D. Arthur, Tennessee. Indexed. Original and two typewritten copies in archive.

Phillips Mss. Tablet of twenty-two hand-written texts sent in by R. W. Phillips, Akeley, Minnesota, March 22, 1924. Indexed. Original and two typescript copies in archive.
Purcell Mss. 108 song texts with music sent in by Miss Margaret Purcell, Greenwood, Virginia, ca. 1929. Indexed. Not in archive.

Winger Mss. Two collections of 50 and 75 songs respectively, obtained from Miss Betty Bush Winger, Point Pleasant, West Virginia; Negro songs from Miss Winger's home in Ozark region of Missouri. Manuscript II corresponds with ca. twenty-five recordings made by R. W. Gordon at Point Pleasant, 1931-32. Indexed. Recordings in archive. Typescript at University of Oregon.